There’s no denying the merits of AI.

It’s super efficient at doing complex things that you might now have the time or brain capacity to do, it can process and respond to customer complaints without its feelings getting hurt, and it can even help out with accessibility too.

But along with the convenience comes massive drawbacks. AI is mistake-prone and incapable of human judgement and empathy; at the same time, it is killing the climate, with insane amounts of water and fossil-fuel based energy consumption just to answer your inane questions in the middle of the night.

But according to a new report from the Washington Post, the implications of AI on our lives just keep getting worse and worse.

We may not like it, but as things stand, AI is important.

Important to the progress of technology, medicine, conservation, and the economy, and important to our futures too.

Because even though jobs are being replaced across industries by AI, which becomes more and more capable by the day, its continued success is intrinsically linked to your ability to retire and live a financially-secure old age.

That’s because so much investment is currently being pumped into AI, with its continued progress vitally important to US GDP and the wider economy.

So what if the current AI boom was to crash?

Well it wouldn’t spell the rosy future that those of you who have lost your jobs to AI might hope for.

Instead, massive amounts of investment would be lost and the US economy would see its impressive AI-based growth shudder to a dramatic halt, with startups falling apart at the seams and even the biggest tech firms struggling.

This would inevitably be felt across Wall Street, with devastating effects not just on companies but on your 401k and savings accounts too.

And with that in mind, it’s hard not to root for AI’s continued success.

If you think that’s impressive, check out this story about a “goldmine” of lithium that was found in the U.S. that could completely change the EV battery game.